Method and System for Drafting One or More Players in a Fantasy Sport

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems and computer readable mediums are provided for drafting one or more players in a fantasy sport. In one method, a list of available players available for drafting to a user&#39;s fantasy team is retrieved from a data store. Each available player has an associated ranking. A first candidate player and a second candidate player are identified from the available players based, at least in part, upon a first and a second drafting criterion, respectively. A weighted ranking is computed for at least one of the first and the second candidate player using at least one weighting factor corresponding to the first and the second drafting criterion. One of the first and the second candidate player is selected as a drafted player based upon the weighted ranking.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to fantasy sports, and morespecifically to a method for player drafting in fantasy sports.

BACKGROUND

All over the world, the sports fervor has been heightened by the adventof fantasy games. Fantasy sports leagues serve as means, by which a usercan own teams in various sports including, but not limited to, football,basketball, soccer, baseball, hockey etc. and compete with other usersin a virtual environment. The user may need to register with a website,for example, Yahoo! Sports, offering such a fantasy league and build hisown team.

Typically, each player in the user's team is awarded fantasy points andthe overall team's fantasy points may be an aggregate of the individualplayer's fantasy points. The fantasy points awarded to the player aregenerally based on the player's performance in an ongoing season of thatsport. Accordingly, the user whose players, and consequently the team,performs the best is the winner of the fantasy game. Therefore,selection of the team, hereinafter, referred to as drafting, plays avery important role in deciding the user's winnability in the league.

Thus, in order to build a team which will generate the maximum fantasypoints, the user manually drafts various players during a drafting phaseof the fantasy league. The user usually combines his understanding ofthe fundamentals of the game, knowledge about the players, and a teambuilding strategy to select a team such that the user has maximumchances of winning.

However, every user may not have sufficient expertise in the sport orenough knowledge about the players to be able to select the optimumteam. Further, the drafting phase is a time-bounded process with eachuser having an upper bound on a drafting interval during which the userneeds to draft a player. Consequently, even a knowledgeable user maymake sub-optimal choices when pressed for time.

Auto-drafting solutions attempt to overcome this problem by picking aplayer on behalf of the user during the drafting phase, for example,when the drafting interval is over and the user has not made anyselections, or when the user is not present and/or logged in during thedrafting phase. One commonly used algorithm for auto-drafting ispopularly known as “draft for need”. According to this technique, foreach drafting round, the algorithm looks at specific needs of the user,for example, a player playing at a specific position or having aspecific skill set, and selects a player having the highest rankingamong available players satisfying the need. However, such a draftingstrategy may result in overlooking one or more available players havinghigher ranking than the drafted player.

In another auto-drafting scheme, the user submits a list of playersbefore the drafting phase. During the drafting phase, the players areselected according to the order given in the list, their ranking andavailability. However, even in this scheme, a good knowledge about thegame and the players is required for the user to create the list.Further, since a player that is not mentioned in the user's list is notdrafted, a player with a better ranking than the players in the user'slist for a given need may be overlooked during the drafting phase,thereby resulting in a sub-optimal team.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Methods, systems and computer program products are provided for draftingone or more players in a fantasy sport. In one method, a list ofavailable players available for drafting to a fantasy team of the userat a drafting round is retrieved from a data store. Each availableplayer has an associated ranking. A first candidate player identifiedfrom the available players based, at least in part, upon a firstdrafting criterion. A second candidate player is identified from theavailable players based, at least in part, upon a second draftingcriterion. A weighted ranking is computed for at least one of the firstcandidate player and the second candidate player using at least oneweighting factor corresponding to the first drafting criterion and thesecond drafting criterion. One of the first candidate player and thesecond candidate player is selected as a drafted player based upon theweighted ranking.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an example implementation of a network in which a system fordrafting one or more players in a fantasy sport may be deployed,according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example implementation of a methodfor drafting one or more players in a fantasy sport, according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a first example user interface for entering at least oneweighting factor, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an example list of available players, according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an example list of a first candidate player and a secondcandidate player along with weighted rankings, according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a second example user interface for entering the at least oneweighting factor, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a third example user interface for entering the at least oneweighting factor, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example computing systemfor drafting one or more players in a fantasy sport, according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the present invention will be described in detailbelow with reference to accompanying drawings. It will be apparent,however, that these embodiments may be practiced without some or all ofthese specific details. In other instances, well known process steps orelements have not been described in detail in order not to unnecessarilyobscure the description of the invention. The following exampleembodiments and their aspects are described and illustrated inconjunction with apparatuses, methods, and systems which are meant to beillustrative examples, not limiting in scope.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example implementation of a network environment100 in which a system 102 for drafting one or more players in a fantasysport may be deployed, according to one embodiment. Network environment100 includes system 102, a network 104, and one or more client nodes106. Network 104 generally represents one or more interconnectednetworks, over which system 102 and client nodes 106 can communicatewith each other. Network 104 may include packet-based wide area networks(such as the Internet), local area networks (LAN), private networks,wireless networks, satellite networks, cellular networks, pagingnetworks, and the like. A person skilled in the art will recognize thatnetwork 104 may also be a combination of more than one type of network.For example, network 104 may be a combination of a LAN and the Internet.In addition, network 104 may be implemented as a wired network, or awireless network or a combination thereof. Client nodes 106 arecommunicatively coupled to system 102 via network 104.

Client nodes 106 are computing devices from which a user accessesservices provided by system 102. Client nodes 106 have the capability tocommunicate over network 104. Client nodes 106 may further have thecapability to provide the user, an interface to interact with theservices provided by system 102. Client nodes 106 may be, for example, adesktop computer, a laptop computer, a mobile phone, a personal digitalassistant, a television system, a gaming terminal and the like. Clientnodes 106 may execute one or more client applications such as, withoutlimitation, a web browser to access and view content over a computernetwork, an interactive on-demand user interface to access servicesprovided by system 102. Client nodes 106, in various embodiments, mayinclude a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) browser or other wirelessor mobile device protocol suites such as, without limitation, NipponTelegraph and Telephone (NTT) DoCoMo's i-mode wireless network serviceprotocol suites, Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), and thelike.

System 102 is a network addressable system that hosts a variety ofnetwork applications related to, among others, one or more fantasysports and accessible to one or more users over network 104. In oneembodiment, system 102 may be deployed by a fantasy sports serviceprovider, for example, Yahoo! Sports. The fantasy sports provided by thefantasy sport service provider may include fantasy version of a varietyof sports such as, but not limited to, football, baseball, basketball,hockey, soccer, cricket, volleyball and the like. The fantasy sportservice provider may run one or more fantasy leagues corresponding tothe fantasy sports.

Users may register with the fantasy sport service provider and mayparticipate in the fantasy leagues. To participate in the fantasyleague, the users may need to build their fantasy teams. Each fantasyteam includes a plurality of players drafted by the user.

A fantasy league corresponding to a fantasy sport may have a fantasyseason, which, typically, may coincide with a regular season ofrespective real sport. Additionally, each player in the fantasy teams ofthe users may be awarded fantasy points after each game over theduration of the fantasy season according to rules followed by thefantasy league. Typically, the fantasy points awarded to the playersdepend upon the player's performance in the games during the regularseason. Any scheme of awarding the fantasy points to the players may beemployed without deviating from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. The fantasy points of a user's fantasy team may be anaggregate of fantasy points awarded to the players in the fantasy team.Further, the fantasy team with the highest total fantasy points may beregarded as the champion of the fantasy league. The user owning thatfantasy team may be declared as the winner and may be awarded a prize.

Generally, the fantasy league conducts a drafting process during whichthe users draft the players to their fantasy teams. The players may beselected from professional and/or collegiate players of the sport. Thedrafting process may include one or more drafting rounds. In each round,every user is allocated a turn when the user may draft one player to hisfantasy team. In some implementations, the fantasy league may allow theuser to skip a particular drafting round (where the user may not draftany player) or the user may draft more than one players in the draftinground.

System 102 assists the user in drafting one or more players to thefantasy team. In various embodiments of the present invention, system102 may include an application server 108, a drafting module 110, aplayer database 112 and a user database 114.

Since the winner of the fantasy league is decided by players in thefantasy team of the user, it is important to draft the players in thefantasy team so as to maximize chances of the user to become the winner.The user may want to follow one or more drafting strategies, hereinafterinterchangeably referred to as drafting criteria, while drafting theplayers. In various embodiments, the one or more drafting strategies mayinclude drafting an available player with the highest ranking(hereinafter referred to as best player strategy); drafting an availableplayer with the highest ranking who meets positional needs of thefantasy team (hereinafter referred to as drafting for need strategy);drafting an available player having the highest ranking and belonging toone or more scarce positions (herein after referred to as positionalscarcity strategy). Various other strategies may also followed by theuser. In various embodiments of the present invention, drafting module110 enables the user to draft one or more players to the fantasy teamaccording to the one or more drafting strategies.

In accordance with an embodiment, drafting module 110 retrieves one ormore available players from player database 112 at the user's turn in adrafting round. Each player has an associated ranking. The ranking maydenote the player's potential value to the fantasy team. The ranking maybe based on a variety of factors, such as, but without limitation, pastperformances of the player, accumulated fantasy points in the currentand/or past seasons, the player's win-loss record, the number of gamesplayed by the player, the player's injury record and the like. Invarious embodiments, the ranking may be represented in terms of rankingposition, ranking points and the like, hereinafter, collectivelyreferred to as the ranking. Further, in one embodiment, the rankings maybe computed by system 102. According to another embodiment, the rankingsmay be obtained from one or more third-party data sources. The rankingsmay also be provided by the user, according to yet another embodiment.

Thereafter, drafting module 110 identifies a first candidate playerbased, at least in part upon, a first drafting criterion. Draftingmodule 110 further identifies a second candidate player based, at leastin part, on a second drafting criterion.

Further, drafting module 110 computes weighted rankings for at least oneof the first candidate player and the second candidate player using atleast one weighting factor. In one embodiment of the present invention,the at least one weighting factor corresponds to the first draftingcriterion and the second drafting criterion and denotes relativeimportance that the user would want to give to the first draftingcriterion and the second drafting criterion. In one embodiment, a singleweighting factor may correspond to both the first and the seconddrafting criteria. Alternatively, a separate weighting factor is usedcorresponding to each drafting criterion. In various embodiments, the atleast one weighting factor is obtained from the user.

Thereafter, drafting module 110 selects one of the first candidateplayer and the second candidate player based on the weighted ranking asa drafted player. In one embodiment, the drafted player may beautomatically drafted to the fantasy team. In this case, the user may ormay not be present at the time of drafting. In another embodiment, theuser may be presented the drafted player and prompted to approve theselection. In yet another embodiment, the user may be presented a listof predetermined number of the selected players in the order of theweighted ranking, for example, top three players according to theweighted ranking. The user may then make the final selection fordrafting to the fantasy team.

Player database 112 stores the ranking of the players associated withthe fantasy sports offered by the fantasy sport service provider, in oneembodiment of the present invention. Player database 112 may also storeplayer information including, but without limitation, professionalinformation, personal information and drafting information

For each player, the personal information may include, but not limitedto, name, coach's name, age, height, weight, place of residence and thelike. The professional information may include performance of the playerin current and past seasons, number of games played, debut year,win-loss records, other performance related statistical data and thelike. The drafting information may include, without limitation, whetherthe player is an available player or has been drafted, the team to whichthe player belongs, a drafting round in which the player was drafted andthe like. Additionally, player database 112 may also store fantasypoints earned by the players.

User database 114 stores various types of information about the users.The user information may include, without limitation, login, password, auser profile, user preferences, the user's fantasy team(s) and the like.Further, in one embodiment, user database 114 may also store the userdefined rankings of the players.

Player database 112 and/or user database 114 is a persistent data storeand may include any hardware and/or software suitably configured forstoring information as disclosed herein. Further, any databasesdisclosed herein may be any type of database, such as relational,hierarchical, graphical, object-oriented, and/or other databaseconfigurations.

Application server 108 provides network application access to one ormore client nodes 106 via network 104. Application server 108 hosts avariety of applications that facilitate the user to access one or moreservices offered by the fantasy sport service provider. Applicationserver 108 may host a registration system to enable the user to registerwith the fantasy sport service provider and/or to register withindividual fantasy leagues. Application server 108 may further include auser authentication system to authenticate the users, for example,through a login name and password, before providing the users access toservice related content. Application server 108 may also host the entirewebsite architecture including, without limitation, webpage andapplications implemented using Common Gateway Interface script (CGI),PHP Hyper-text Processor (PHP), Active Server Pages (ASP), Hyper TextMarkup Language (HTML), Extensible Markup Language (XML), Java,Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, and the like.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example method 200 for draftingthe one or more players in the fantasy team, in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. According to one embodiment, method200 is repeated at the user's turn in every drafting round. At step 202,a list of available players for drafting to a fantasy team of the useris retrieved from a database, for example, player database 112. Inaddition, the rankings of the available players are also retrieved. Therankings may be retrieved from player database 112 or from user database114. In an embodiment, drafting module 110 retrieves the list ofavailable players and the associated rankings. In additionalembodiments, drafting module 110 may also retrieve any other playerinformation, such as positions at which the available players play.

Thereafter, at step 204, a first candidate player is identified from theavailable players based, at least in part, upon a first draftingcriterion. In one embodiment, the first drafting criterion is thepositional need of the fantasy team. In this case, the positional needof the fantasy team may be determined by drafting module 110 based uponvarious factors, in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention. The various factors include, but are not limited to, one ormore vacant positions in the fantasy team, number of players that stillneed to be drafted for each of the one or more vacant positions, whetherthe one or more vacant positions indicate vacancies in the user'sstarting roster and/or bench etc. Then, one or more players areidentified from the available players that satisfy the positional need.A player is selected from the one or more identified players as thefirst candidate player in the order of the ranking. The order of theranking used for selecting the first candidate player may depend uponhow the ranking is represented. For example, if the ranking isrepresented by the ranking position, a player having the lowest rankingposition is identified as the first candidate player. On the other hand,if the ranking is represented by ranking points, a player having thehighest ranking points is selected as the first candidate player.

Thereafter, at step 206, a second candidate player is identified fromthe available players based, at least in part, upon a second draftingcriterion. According to one embodiment, the second drafting criterion isthe best player available. In one embodiment, an available player isselected as the second candidate player in the order of the ranking.

Thereafter, at step 208, weighted rankings for the first candidateplayer and the second candidate player are computed using at least oneweighting factor corresponding to the first drafting criterion and thesecond drafting criterion. In one embodiment, a single weighting factormay correspond to both the first and the second drafting criteria. Forexample, the single weighting factor may take multiple values with oneset of values indicating a preference for the first drafting criterionand another set of values indicating the preference for the seconddrafting criterion. In this case, the weighted rankings may be obtainedby updating the ranking of either the first candidate player or thesecond candidate player using the single weighting factor. In anotherembodiment, separate weighting factors may be defined corresponding tothe first and the second drafting criteria, for example, a firstweighting factor for the first drafting criterion and a second weightingfactor for the second drafting criterion. In this case, the weightedrankings may be calculated by updating the ranking of the firstcandidate player using the first weighting factor and by updating theranking of the second candidate player using the second weightingfactor.

The at least one weighting factor may be defined in a variety of ways,for example, integers, decimal values, percentages and the like. In oneexample implementation, the at least one weighting factor may takevalues between −60% and 60%, with negative values showing preferencetowards the first drafting criterion and positive values denotingpreference towards the second drafting criterion. The at least oneweighting factor may be discrete or continuous.

In an embodiment, an interface is provided to the user to enter the atleast one weighting factor. The interface may allow the user to enterthe at least one weighting factor in a variety of ways. For example, theuser may be presented at least one text box to enter value ofcorresponding weighting factor, in accordance with one embodiment. Inanother embodiment, the user may set the at least one weighting factorby manipulating a slider. In additional embodiments, the user may selectvalues for the at least one weighting factor using any of a drop downmenu, one or more radio buttons, one or more check boxes and the like.Any other suitable technique may also be used to allow the user to enterthe at least one weighting factor without deviating from the spirit andscope of the present invention.

In one embodiment, the at least one weighting factor may be stored inuser database 114. According to one embodiment, the at least oneweighting factor may be selected depending upon one or more ofcomposition of the fantasy team and a drafting round. For example, theuser may want to follow the draft for need strategy while drafting forthe starting roaster and may follow the best available player strategyfor drafting bench players. Accordingly, the user may choose to enterdifferent weighting factors and drafting module 110 may apply respectiveweighting factors when drafting for the user's starting line-up and forbench players while calculating the weighted rankings. Similarly, theuser may want to give preference to the first drafting criterion duringearly drafting rounds and may give more weightage to the second draftingcriterion during later drafting rounds, thereby using differentweighting factors depending upon the drafting round.

In one embodiment, the weighted ranking for a player may be computed byincreasing/decreasing the ranking of the player by the value of the atleast one weighting factor. According to another embodiment, theweighted ranking for the player may be computed by multiplying theranking of the player by the value of the at least one weighting factor.Any other suitable technique may also be used to compute the weightedranking based upon the at least one weighting factor.

Finally, at step 212, one of the first candidate player and the secondcandidate players is selected as a drafted player for the fantasy teambased on the weighted ranking. In one embodiment, the drafted player maybe automatically drafted to the fantasy team. Alternatively, the usermay be prompted to confirm the selection of the drafted player beforedrafting the drafted player to the fantasy team.

In additional embodiments, a third candidate player is identified fromthe available players based, at least in part, upon a third draftingcriterion. Weighting ranking is then computed for the third candidateplayer using a third weighting factor associated with the third draftingcriterion. Thereafter, the drafted player may be selected from thefirst, second and third candidate players in the order of the weightedranking. In one embodiment, the third drafting criterion is thepositional scarcity. According to one embodiment, the positionalscarcity may be represented using one or more scarce positions. In oneexample implementation, the one or more scarce positions may beidentified as positions for which the number of suitable players is lessthan a threshold, for example, if the number of players suitable forRunning Back position is less than 15, the Running Back position isidentified as a scarce position. The threshold may be the same for alldrafting rounds or different thresholds may be used for differentdrafting rounds. Alternatively, a scarce position is a position forwhich the number of players available for the position at a currentdrafting round is below a certain percentage of the total number ofavailable players for that position before the drafting process. Forexample, if the number of players available for Wide Receiver positionin the current drafting round is less than, say, 25% of the total numberof players available for the Wide Receiver position at the beginning ofthe drafting process, then the Wide Receiver position is identified asthe scarce position. In alternate embodiments, the scarce positions mayalso be identified by analyzing drafting trends of other users, forexample, if more than a specific percentage of users, say, 70%, havealready filled a certain position, then that position may be identifiedas the scarce position. In additional embodiments, the scarce positionsmay be determined using any one or more factors described herein. Anyother techniques to identify the scarce positions may also be usedinstead of or in addition to the techniques described herein withoutdeviating from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Oncesuitable players for the scarce positions are identified, a suitableplayer having the highest ranking may be selected as the third candidateplayer.

In various embodiments, upon drafting the drafted player to the user'sfantasy team, the user may be suitably notified using a text message, ane-mail, an audible alert and the like. Additionally, player database 112and/or user database 114 may be updated with the information of thedrafted player, the drafting round, name of the user and the like.

Though various embodiments described above use the three strategies,namely, the draft for need, the best player and the positional scarcitycriteria, it need not be so. Any other drafting criteria may also besimilarly applied in conjunction with or instead of the three strategiesdescribed herein to take into account the user's drafting strategieswhile drafting a player to the user's fantasy team.

Various embodiments described above draft only one player to the user'sfantasy team in a given drafting round. Additional embodiments of thepresent invention enable the user to draft more than one player in onedrafting round. In this case, one or more first candidate players andone or more second candidate players are identified based upon the firstdrafting criterion and the second drafting criterion, respectively.Weighted rankings are then computed for the one or more first candidateplayers and the one or more second candidate players using the at leastone weighting factor as described earlier. Finally, more than one of theone or more first candidate players and the one or more second candidateplayers, for example, top three of the first and second candidateplayers, are selected as drafted players for the user's fantasy team.

FIGS. 3-5 illustrate an example scenario for drafting a player to theuser's fantasy team, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 3 is an example user interface 300 to allow the user toenter the one or more weighting factors, in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. In this example, the user isprompted to enter a weighting factor. The weighting factor indicatesrelative importance given to two drafting criterion corresponding to twodrafting strategies. In this case, the two drafting strategies are thebest player strategy and the draft for need strategy.

As shown, a slider is provided to enable the user to enter the weightingfactor by setting the slider at a desired position. The value of theweighting factor can be set within the range −60% to +60%. In thisexample, a negative value of the weighting factor indicates a preferencefor the best player strategy and a positive value denotes a preferencefor the draft for need strategy. In the example shown, the position ofthe slider may be set in discrete steps, though the position can also beset in a continuous manner in other embodiments. In this case, the userhas set the weighting factor to +30%, thereby indicating his preferencefor the draft for need strategy. In one embodiment, the selectedweighting factor is used to increase the ranking of a candidate playerselected based upon the draft for need strategy. Alternatively, theselected weighting factor may be used to decrease the ranking of acandidate player selected based upon the best player strategy.

The relationship between the positive and negative values of theweighting factor vis-à-vis the draft for need and the best playerstrategies as described above is for example purposes only and shouldnot be interpreted to limit the scope of the present invention. Theweighting factor may equally be defined in such a way that a positivevalue may indicate a preference to the best player criterion and anegative value may indicate a preference to the draft for needcriterion.

Further, on the commencement of the drafting process, when the user'sturn arises, a list of the available players for drafting is retrievedfrom player database 112 and/or user database 114. FIG. 4 illustrates anexample list of available players, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention. As shown, the list of available players includesnames of players, their positions and their ranking. In this case,ranking position is used to denote the ranking. Following descriptionrelates to fantasy football, though it can be readily applied to anyother fantasy sport.

In this example, the available players include three Quarterbacks,namely, Tom Brown, Edward Homes and Alex Lee, with respective rankingsof 28, 37 and 32. Further, there are two Running Backs Peter Morris(ranking 30) and Kevin Smith (ranking 42); and Sam Books (ranking 29) asa Wide Receiver.

Thereafter, a first candidate player is identified from the availableplayers using the first drafting criterion (the positional need in thecurrent example). Assuming that the positional need of the fantasy teamis Running Back, Peter Morris and Kevin Smith are identified as suitableplayers satisfying the positional need. Further, since Peter Morris hasbetter ranking than Kevin Smith, Peter Morris is selected as the firstcandidate player.

Further, a second candidate player is identified from the availableplayers, based on a second drafting criterion, best player strategy, inthis example. Consequently, Tom Brown having the best ranking, that is,the lowest ranking position, among the available players is selected asthe second candidate player.

Thereafter, the weighting factor entered by the user is applied to PeterMorris' (i.e. the first candidate player) ranking to determine weightedranking for Peter Morris. As shown in FIG. 3, the weighting factorequals +30%. Accordingly, Peter Morris' ranking is increased by 30%;thus the weighted ranking for Peter Morris becomes 21. The weightedranking for Tom Brown (i.e. the first candidate player) remainsunchanged at 28. FIG. 5 illustrates an example list of the firstcandidate player and the second candidate player along with the weightedrankings, according to one embodiment of the present invention. Asexplained earlier, the weighted ranking for the first candidate player,Peter Morris, and the second candidate player, Tom Brown, equals 21 and28, respectively. The player with better weighted ranking, that is,Peter Morris with weighted ranking 21 is then selected as a draftedplayer for drafting to the user's fantasy team.

FIG. 6 illustrates another example user interface 600 to allow the userto enter the at least one weighting factor, according to one embodimentof the present invention. In this example, the user can enter separateweighting factors for two drafting strategies, namely, the best playerstrategy and the draft for need strategy.

As shown, the user may provide the weighting factors by checking anappropriate radio button. A negative value indicates that the user givesless preference, a zero indicates no preference given and a positivevalue indicates giving more preference to the respective draftingstrategy. In the example shown, the user has selected 0% for the bestplayer strategy and +60% for the draft for need strategy. Assume, forexample, that Derek Waters having a ranking of 30 is identified as acandidate player befitting the draft for need strategy and Richard Joneswith the lowest ranking of 10 is identified as a candidate player basedon the best player strategy. Then their weighted rankings become 12points and 10 points, respectively, and Richard Jones is selected as thedrafted player.

FIG. 7 illustrates yet another example user interface 700 to allow theuser to enter the at least one weighting factor, in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. In this example, the user may enterthree weighting factors corresponding to the best player strategy, thedraft for need strategy and the positional scarcity strategy,respectively.

Additionally, as shown, the weighting factors take a value between 1 and10, where the selected value is used to multiply ranking points of thecandidate players to compute the weighted ranking. Thus, 1 indicates nopreference and 10 indicates maximum preference. In the current example,the user selects 2 for the best player strategy, 5 for the draft forneed strategy and 8 for the positional scarcity strategy. The weightedranking may be calculated accordingly. For example, Stephen Lee (rankingpoints 700), befitting the best player strategy, has a weighted rankingof 1400. Further, Jack Fuller (ranking points 300) selected according tothe draft for need strategy has a weighted ranking of 1500 and JimSanders (ranking points 200), identified according to the positionalscarcity strategy has a weighted ranking of 1600. Consequently, JimSanders is selected as the drafted player to the user's fantasy team.

A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the exampleuser interfaces described above are merely for illustrative basis and donot limit the scope of the invention. A variety of other user interfacespermitting the user to enter the at least one weighting factor may beused without deviating from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. Some examples of such user interfaces include, but are notlimited to, an audio interface, check boxes, drop-down menus, text boxesand the like.

Although systems and methods have been described above with reference tospecific embodiments, some or all of the elements or operations thereofmay be implemented using a computer system having general purposehardware architecture. FIG. 8 illustrates an example hardware system 800to implement drafting module 110 according to one embodiment. Hardwaresystem 800 includes at least one processor 802, a system memory 804, anda mass storage 806. The system memory 804 has stored therein one or moreapplication software, programming instructions, i.e., drafting code 808,for implementing the methods disclosed herein, an operating system anddrivers directed to the functions described herein. Mass storage 806provides permanent storage for the data and programming instructions 808for the methods disclosed herein, whereas system memory 804 (e.g., DRAM)provides temporary storage for the data and programming instructions 808when executed by processor 802. In an embodiment, the various databasedisclosed in conjunction with the present invention may reside in massstorage 806. A network/communication interface 810 providescommunication between hardware system 800 and any of a wide range ofnetworks, such as an Ethernet (e.g., IEEE 802.3) network, etc.Additionally, hardware system 800 includes a high performanceinput/output (I/O) bus 812 and a standard I/O bus 814. System memory 804and network/communication interface 810 couple to bus 812. Mass storage806 couple to bus 814. An I/O Bus Bridge 816 couples the two buses 812and 814 to each other.

In one embodiment, various methods and processes described herein areimplemented as a series of software routines run by hardware system 800.These software routines comprise a plurality or series of instructionsto be executed by a processor in a hardware system, such as processor802. Initially, the series of instructions are stored on a storagedevice, such as mass storage 806. However, the series of instructionscan be stored on any suitable storage medium, such as a diskette,CD-ROM, ROM, EEPROM, DVD, Blu-ray disk, etc. Furthermore, the series ofinstructions need not be stored locally, and could be received from aremote storage device, such as server on a network, vianetwork/communication interface 810. The instructions 808 are copiedfrom the storage device, such as mass storage 806, into system memory804 and then accessed and executed by processor 802.

In one embodiment, hardware system 800 may also include I/O ports 818, akeyboard and pointing device 820, a display 822 coupled to bus 812. I/Oports 818 are one or more serial and/or parallel communication portsthat provide communication between additional peripheral devices, whichmay be coupled to hardware system 800. A host bridge 824 couplesprocessor 802 to high performance I/O bus 812. Hardware system 800 mayfurther include video memory (not shown) and a display device coupled tothe video memory. Collectively, these elements are intended to representa broad category of computer hardware systems, including but not limitedto general purpose computer systems based on the x86-compatibleprocessors manufactured by Intel Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif., andthe x86-compatible processors manufactured by Advanced Micro Devices(AMD), Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., as well as any other suitableprocessor.

Hardware system 800 may include a variety of system architectures; andvarious components of hardware system 800 may be rearranged. Forexample, a cache 826 may be on-chip with processor 802. Alternatively,cache 826 and processor 802 may be packed together as a “processormodule,” with processor 802 being referred to as the “processor core.”Furthermore, certain embodiments of the present invention may notrequire nor include all of the above components. For example, theperipheral devices shown coupled to standard I/O bus 814 may couple tohigh performance I/O bus 812. In addition, in some embodiments only asingle bus may exist with the components of hardware system 800 beingcoupled to the single bus. Furthermore, hardware system 800 may includeadditional components, such as additional processors, storage devices,or memories.

An operating system manages and controls the operation of hardwaresystem 800, including the input and output of data to and from softwareapplications (not shown). The operating system provides an interfacebetween the software applications being executed on the system and thehardware components of the system. According to one embodiment of thepresent invention, the operating system is the LINUX operating system.However, the present invention may be used with other suitable operatingsystems, such as the Windows® 95/98/NT/XP/Server operating system,available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., the AppleMacintosh Operating System, available from Apple Computer Int. ofCupertino, Calif., UNIX operating systems, and the like.

While the present invention and its various functional components havebeen described in particular embodiments, it should be appreciated thatthe present invention can be implemented in hardware, software,firmware, middleware or a combination thereof and utilized in systems,subsystems, components or sub-components thereof. When implemented insoftware, the elements of the present invention are theinstructions/code segments to perform the necessary tasks. The programor code segments can be stored in a machine readable medium, such as aprocessor readable medium or a computer program product, or transmittedby a computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave, or a signalmodulated by a carrier, over a transmission medium or communicationlink. The machine-readable medium or processor-readable medium mayinclude any medium that can store or transfer information in a formreadable and executable by a machine (e.g., a processor, a computer,etc.).

Further, although various figures in the specification illustrate theforegoing systems as separate systems, the functionality represented byeach system may be combined into other systems. Furthermore, thefunctionality represented by each depicted system may be furtherseparated. Still further, implementations of the present invention mayoperate in network environments that include multiples of one or more ofthe individual systems and sites disclosed herein. In addition, otherimplementations may operate in network environments where one or more ofthe systems described herein have been omitted.

The present invention has been explained with reference to specificembodiments. For example, while embodiments of the present inventionhave been described with reference to specific hardware and softwarecomponents, those skilled in the art will appreciate that differentcombinations of hardware and/or software components may also be used,and that particular operations described as being implemented inhardware might also be implemented in software or vice versa. Otherembodiments will be evident to those of ordinary skill in the art. It istherefore not intended that the present invention be limited, except asindicated by the appended claims.

1. A method for drafting one or more players in a fantasy sport, themethod comprising: retrieving, from a data store, a list of availableplayers available for drafting to a fantasy team of the user at adrafting round, each available player having an associated ranking;identifying, at a server, a first candidate player from the availableplayers based, at least in part, upon a first drafting criterion;identifying, at the server, a second candidate player from the availableplayers based, at least in part, upon a second drafting criterion;computing, at the server, a weighted ranking for at least one of thefirst candidate player and the second candidate player using at leastone weighting factor corresponding to the first drafting criterion andthe second drafting criterion; and selecting, at the server, one of thefirst candidate player and the second candidate player as a draftedplayer based upon the weighted ranking.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the first drafting criterion is positional need of the fantasyteam, wherein identifying the first candidate player comprises:identifying one or more players from the available players satisfyingthe positional need; and selecting, in the order of the ranking, oneplayer from the one or more identified players as the first candidateplayer.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second drafting criterionis best available player, wherein identifying the second candidateplayer comprises selecting, in the order of the ranking, one availableplayer of the available players as the second candidate player.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein computing the weighted ranking comprisesupdating the ranking of the first candidate player with the at least oneweighting factor.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein computing theweighted ranking comprises updating the ranking of the second candidateplayer with the at least one weighting factor.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the at least one weighting factor comprises a first weightingfactor and a second weighting factor, wherein computing the weightedranking comprises: updating the ranking of the first candidate playerwith the first weighting factor; and updating the ranking of the secondcandidate player with the second weighting factor, wherein the firstweighting factor corresponds to the first drafting criterion and thesecond weighting factor corresponds to the second drafting criterion. 7.The method of claim 1 further comprising providing an interface to theuser to enter the at least one weighting factor.
 8. The method of claim1 further comprising: identifying, at the server, a third candidateplayer based, at least in part, upon a third drafting criterion;computing, at the server, weighted ranking for the third candidateplayer using a third weighting factor corresponding to the thirddrafting criterion; and selecting, at the server, one of the firstcandidate player, the second candidate player and the third candidateplayer as the drafted player based upon the weighted ranking.
 9. Themethod of claim 8, wherein the third drafting criterion is positionalscarcity.
 10. The method of claim 1 further comprising selecting the atleast one weighting factor based, at least in part, upon one or more ofcomposition of the fantasy team and a drafting round.
 11. A system fordrafting one or more players in a fantasy sport, the system comprising:one or more network interfaces; at least one processor; a memory; andcomputer program code stored in a computer readable storage medium,wherein the computer program code, when executed, is operative to causethe at least one processor to: retrieve, from a data store, a list ofavailable players available for drafting to a fantasy team of the userat a drafting round, each available player having an associated ranking;identify, at a server, a first candidate player from the availableplayers based, at least in part, upon a first drafting criterion;identify, at the server, a second candidate player from the availableplayers based, at least in part, upon a second drafting criterion;compute, at the server, a weighted ranking for at least one of the firstcandidate player and the second candidate player using at least oneweighting factor corresponding to the first drafting criterion and thesecond drafting criterion; and select, at the server, one of the firstcandidate player and the second candidate player as a drafted playerbased upon the weighted ranking.
 12. A tangible, non-transitorycomputer-readable medium encoded with computer-executable instructionsfor drafting one or more players in a fantasy sport, thecomputer-executable instructions, when executed, operable to cause atleast one processor to: retrieve, from a data store, a list of availableplayers available for drafting to a fantasy team of the user at adrafting round, each available player having an associated ranking;identify, at a server, a first candidate player from the availableplayers based, at least in part, upon a first drafting criterion;identify, at the server, a second candidate player from the availableplayers based, at least in part, upon a second drafting criterion;compute, at the server, a weighted ranking for at least one of the firstcandidate player and the second candidate player using at least oneweighting factor corresponding to the first drafting criterion and thesecond drafting criterion; and select, at the server, one of the firstcandidate player and the second candidate player as a drafted playerbased upon the weighted ranking.
 13. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 12, wherein the first drafting criterion is positional need of thefantasy team, the computer readable medium further comprisingcomputer-executable instructions operable to cause the at least oneprocessor to: identify one or more players from the available playerssatisfying the positional need; and select, in the order of the ranking,one player from the one or more identified players as the firstcandidate player.
 14. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, whereinthe second drafting criterion is best available player, the computerreadable medium further comprising computer-executable instructionsoperable to cause the at least one processor to select, in the order ofthe ranking, one available player of the available players as the secondcandidate player.
 15. The computer-readable medium of claim 12 furthercomprising computer-executable instructions operable to cause the atleast one processor to update the ranking of the first candidate playerwith the at least one weighting factor.
 16. The computer-readable mediumof claim 12 further comprising computer-executable instructions operableto cause the at least one processor to update the ranking of the secondcandidate player with the at least one weighting factor.
 17. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the at least one weightingfactor comprises a first weighting factor and a second weighting factor,the computer-readable medium further comprising computer-executableinstructions operable to cause the at least one processor to: update theranking of the first candidate player with a first weighting factor; andupdate the ranking of the second candidate player with a secondweighting factor, wherein the first weighting factor corresponds to thefirst drafting criterion and the second weighting factor corresponds tothe second drafting criterion.
 18. The computer-readable medium of claim12 further comprising computer-executable instructions operable to causethe at least one processor to provide an interface to the user to enterthe at least one weighting factor.
 19. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 12 further comprising computer-executable instructions operable tocause the at least one processor to: identify, at the server, a thirdcandidate player based, at least in part, upon a third draftingcriterion; compute, at the server, weighted ranking for the thirdcandidate player using a third weighting factor corresponding to thethird drafting criterion; and select, at the server, one of the firstcandidate player, the second candidate player and the third candidateplayer as the drafted player based upon the weighted ranking.
 20. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 12 further comprisingcomputer-executable instructions operable to cause the at least oneprocessor to select the at least one weighting factor based, at least inpart, upon one or more of composition of the fantasy team and a draftinground.